Re: gnuplot cvs source bug

[Juergen W. <wie...@fr...>]

On Friday 23 September 2005 20:34 Ethan Merritt wrote:
> I happen to disagree.  Integer arithmetic is quite useful in many
> contexts, and it is a standard part of programming languages and
> natural languages.  Adding peculiar arithmetic operators to indicate
> that a number is an integer strikes me as being an obfuscation, not
> a clarification.  Sure, sometimes even an experienced user will
> forget, and mistype  (n/2) where it should have been (n/2.0).
> But also people type "if (a = b)" where it should have been
> "if (a == b)" or "if (a eq b)". Hiding this useful distinction
> in a choice of operators is not likely to reduce the number of
> mistakes.

I would agree if variables in gnuplot had explicit types.  But the
type is part of the value.  In a script it can be hard or even
impossible to say if an expression "a/b" is integer or floating
point division.  So an additional operator would make the code more
readable.

I just wanted to make my point clear.  I'm aware that this is
unlikly to be included.

Juergen